Ten stanzas of worldly and auspicious rewards, each closing with the same refrain: one who does not betray his friends.
- Pali source
- ขุ.ชา. เตมิย. 401/154
- When chanted
- Chanted following the discourse of the same name, as an auspicious recitation on the rewards of goodwill and constancy to friends.
A note on this chant. The book prints this chant in Pali only, with no Thai translation. The English here is a working translation prepared for this edition — it is not the book's own, and has not yet been checked by a teacher.
Historical background
This set of verses is paired in the book with chant 3, the Mettānisaṃsasuttaṃ, and follows immediately after it. Where the discourse gave eleven benefits in prose and attributed them to the developed liberation of mind, these verses give their benefits in metre and attribute them to something narrower and more concrete: not betraying one's friends.
The construction is a refrain form. Each of the ten stanzas states three rewards and then closes with the identical line โย มิตตานัง นะ ทุพภะติ, he who does not betray his friends. The final occurrence adds the quotative ติ to close the whole. A chant of this shape is easy to recite and easy to verify, since any stanza missing its refrain is a stanza with a line missing.
As with the four preceding chants, no Thai rendering is printed, so this entry stands at two of the five layers and the English is my own off the Pali.
Meaning and purpose
The rewards named are almost entirely of this world, and unusually practical for a chanting text. One has abundant food though far from home; many live in dependence on him; wherever he goes, to market towns or royal capitals, he is honoured. Thieves do not overpower him and nobles do not slight him. These are the goods of a person whose standing is secure.
The middle stanzas turn to how such a person is received and what he receives back. Honouring, he is honoured; revered, he is held in reverence; he comes home unangered and is welcomed in the assembly. He blazes like fire and shines like a deva. The reciprocity is the argument of the chant — what is given out returns, and the verses simply itemise the forms in which it does.
The last two stanzas widen to fortune and to safety. His cattle bear young, what is sown in his field grows, and he enjoys the fruit of what was sown. A man fallen from a cliff or a tree finds footing. And the simile that closes the chant: as the wind cannot overpower a banyan whose roots have spread wide, so enemies do not overpower him. The whole set rests on a single condition, stated ten times without variation.
The chant
As the book prints it: page 23 →
พะหุตัพภักโข ภะวะติ วิปปะวุตโถ สะกัง ฆะรา
bahutabbhakkho bhavati vippavuttho sakaṃ gharā
He has abundant food, though dwelling far from his own house;
พะหูนัง อุปะชีวันติ โย มิตตานัง นะ ทุพภะติ.
bahūnaṃ upajīvanti yo mittānaṃ na dubbhati.
many live in dependence upon him — he who does not betray his friends.
ยัง ยัง ชะนะปะทัง ยาติ นิคะเม ราชะธานิโย
yaṃ yaṃ janapadaṃ yāti nigame rājadhāniyo
To whatever country he goes, to market towns or royal cities,
สัพพัตถะ ปูชิโต โหติ โย มิตตานัง นะ ทุพภะติ.
sabbattha pūjito hoti yo mittānaṃ na dubbhati.
everywhere he is honoured — he who does not betray his friends.
นาสสะ โจรา ปะสะหันติ นาติมัญเญติ ขัตติโย
nāssa corā pasahanti nātimaññeti khattiyo
Thieves do not overpower him, the noble does not despise him,
สัพเพ อะมิตเต ตะระติ โย มิตตานัง นะ ทุพภะติ.
sabbe amitte tarati yo mittānaṃ na dubbhati.
he overcomes all enemies — he who does not betray his friends.
อะกุทโธ สะฆะรัง เอติ สะภายะ ปะฏินันทิโต
akuddho sagharaṃ eti sabhāya paṭinandito
Unangered he comes to his home, he is welcomed in the assembly,
ญาตีนัง อุตตะโม โหติ โย มิตตานัง นะ ทุพภะติ.
ñātīnaṃ uttamo hoti yo mittānaṃ na dubbhati.
he is foremost among his kin — he who does not betray his friends.
สักกัต๎วา สักกะโต โหติ คะรุ โหติ สะคาระโว
sakkatvā sakkato hoti garu hoti sagāravo
Having honoured, he is honoured, being reverent, he is held in respect,
วัณณะกิตติภะโต โหติ โย มิตตานัง นะ ทุพภะติ.
vaṇṇakittibhato hoti yo mittānaṃ na dubbhati.
he bears praise and renown — he who does not betray his friends.
ปูชะโก ละภะเต ปูชัง วันทะโก ปะฏิวันทะนัง
pūjako labhate pūjaṃ vandako paṭivandanaṃ
Honouring, he obtains honour, saluting, he receives salutation,
ยะโสกิตติญจะ ปัปโปติ โย มิตตานัง นะ ทุพภะติ.
yasokittiñca pappoti yo mittānaṃ na dubbhati.
he attains fame and renown — he who does not betray his friends.
อัคคิยะถา ปัชชะละติ เทวะตาวะ วิโรจะติ
aggiyathā pajjalati devatāva virocati
He blazes forth as does a fire, he shines as does a deva,
สิริยา อัชชะหิโต โหติ โย มิตตานัง นะ ทุพภะติ.
siriyā ajjahito hoti yo mittānaṃ na dubbhati.
he is not forsaken by good fortune — he who does not betray his friends.
คาโว ตัสสะ ปะชายันติ เขตเต วุตตัง วิรูหะติ
gāvo tassa pajāyanti khette vuttaṃ virūhati
His cattle bear their young, what is sown in the field grows up,
วุตตานัง ผะละมัสนาติ โย มิตตานัง นะ ทุพภะติ.
vuttānaṃ phalamasnāti yo mittānaṃ na dubbhati.
he enjoys the fruit of what was sown — he who does not betray his friends.
ทะริโต ปัพพะตาโต วา รุกขะโต ปะติโต นะโร
darito pabbatāto vā rukkhato patito naro
Fallen from a chasm or a mountain, or a man fallen from a tree,
จุโต ปะติฏฐัง ละภะติ โย มิตตานัง นะ ทุพภะติ.
cuto patiṭṭhaṃ labhati yo mittānaṃ na dubbhati.
though he fall, he finds a footing — he who does not betray his friends.
วิรุฬหะมูละสันตานัง นิโค๎รธะมิวะ มาลุโต
viruḷhamūlasantānaṃ nigrodhamiva māluto
As the wind cannot overpower a banyan whose spreading roots have grown,
อะมิตตา นัปปะสะหันติ โย มิตตานัง นะ ทุพภะตีติ.
amittā nappasahanti yo mittānaṃ na dubbhatīti.
so enemies do not overpower him — he who does not betray his friends.
เมตตานิสังสะคาถา นิฏฐิตา.
mettānisaṃsagāthā niṭṭhitā.
Here end the Verses on the Benefits of Loving-Kindness.